Savior
by PurpleNeon
Summary: One night, Draco Malfoy is Ginny's unlikely hero. This prompts them to start talking, and a strange friendship blooms. But to both of them, it has always been a bit more than that.
1. Prologue

She ran down the halls. Her breath was heavy, and her red hair was flowing free behind her. She wore a nightgown. It wasn't even sexy, but it was enough to make him look at her. As she ran, she cried. She hadn't wanted this to happen again. If she could, she would go back in time so that she had never decided to go to the kitchens. She would have stayed in bed, and listened to her stomach rumbling until the morning. If she knew that this was going to happen, Ginny would have gone to dinner in the first place. But she didn't, and now she was regretting it with every fiber of her being.

Ginny could hear him behind her. His breaths came out in pants. He played Quidditch, but he wasn't nearly as resilient as she was. He was wearing much more than Ginny was—he was still clad in his school robes.

Ginny ran as if she had never ran before. She whipped past the kitchens—her original destination—and turned corner after corner.  
The tears came faster. Neither of them had their wands. She had left hers in her room, and his was perched on the table in the common room. If she had just brought her wand. She thought helplessly, this wouldn't have happened. She would have hexed him, and he would have stopped. He wouldn't be following her now. When it came down to it, Ginny was powerless without magic.

He was gaining on her. She could tell. She had almost fallen as they ran down a set of stairs, going deeper and deeper into the dungeons. His hurried footsteps were getting closer and closer, and Ginny could barely see past her tears. It took all of her senses for her to not run into anything.

"Ginny!" It was the first time he had spoke since she ran. He sounded angry. "Slow down, damn it!"

He wasn't drunk. No, Ginny knew he was sober. This was all him. He was the one that was going to hurt her, not Firewhisky. It was true that he was acting strange, though she didn't know why. He had never shown any interest in her, and Ginny knew that she had never shown any interest in him. He had always been so kind to her. Therefore, she had no idea where this had came from.

That day, she had skipped dinner to finish her Potions essay. She was up for hours, trying to complete her homework. At about one in the morning, she gave herself over to her hunger and decided to go to the kitchens. As she passed through the common room, he was sitting alone on the couch, reading. He'd asked if she'd wanted to sit with him, and she had politely said yes, because he looked lonely. There was no one else in the room.

After a minute of silence, he started talking. He asked her to Hogsmeade, she said no. He asked her why, and she said that she wasn't interested. He asked for a reason, and Ginny had reluctantly explained that she only thought of him as a friend, or an older brother. By then, he had started to look mad. His eyebrows knit together, and his lip was twitching.

Ginny had started to feel anxious. She wanted to leave. This wasn't at all like the boy she knew. his eyes were too hard, and his voice was too aggressive. She was shifting in her seat, looking down at her hands when he kissed her. It wasn't kind. No, it was forced, angry. She pushed him away, but he leaned back in. He was growling at her, telling her that if she didn't let him do this, she'd be sorry. Ginny could remember her heart pounding. She was terrified. For a minute, she let him kiss her, thinking that maybe, he'd go away. But he didn't. His hand started to trail down from her cheek to her chest, and Ginny pulled away. She ran, but he followed her out of the dormitories.

That was how Ginny found herself racing through the dungeons, just trying to get away. Her tears were blinding her.

"Ginny, I swear." She didn't know that he was so close, and it scared her. She tripped. It only slowed her by a second, but that second was enough. He grabbed her shoulders, roughly shoving her to the wall. "You'll be sorry."

He slapped her. Ginny reached a hand up to her cheek. It stung. "Dean!" She cried, collapsing against the wall. "Dean, please!" She hated this. She hated feeling weak.

Dean Thomas shook his head, and his eyes glinted hungrily. "Ginny, you know you want to."

"No, stop!" Before Ginny could protest any farther, he was attacking her lips in that mad, half-insane way that he had before. Ginny's tears slid down her face. Her hands pounded his back. She couldn't make him stop.

"Stop!" A sharp voice hissed through the darkness. "Get off her!" Suddenly Dean was gone, and Ginny sank down the wall. She realized how weak her knees felt. She felt as though she was in a tunnel. She couldn't feel anything, and her eyes were shut tightly. She heard the sounds of someone running, but it seemed as though it came from miles away. She was vaguely aware that she was hugging her knees up to her chest. Maybe, she thought, maybe she was going in to shock.

"Weasley?" Ginny gasped, and pushed her hands to her eyes. She didn't want to open them, to know what had happened. She didn't want it to be real.

"Weasley, for Merlin's sake, open your eyes." Ginny knew that voice, and she didn't think that it was much better than Dean's.

"No." Her voice broke halfway through the word.

She felt hands dragging her fists away from her face, and she slowly opened her eyes. Meeting her gaze was none other than Draco Malfoy.

Ginny shut her eyes again. She cursed under her breath, and rubbed her arms. She had no idea how the Slytherins lived down here; it had to be colder than any indoor place she'd ever been before.

"Weasley, keeping your eyes closed won't make me go away." Malfoy's voice sounded amused, but Ginny didn't laugh.

"I know," she said. She tried to keep her voice from trembling.

"You'll have to open them sometime, you know."

Ginny slowly opened her eyes. Her heart was trying to beat out of her chest. Maybe, she thought duly, that was another sign of shock. She still felt like he was in a tunnel, and as far as she could tell, her trembling had only gotten worse. She had had this happen last time, but she hasn't thought of it as shock.

Ginny hated thinking about it at all. It was four and a half years ago, but that didn't make the scars any less painful. Her first year at Hogwarts had been hell. Nobody knew the full extend of what Tom had done to her, not even her parents. They didn't know that he had hit her. They didn't know that he had touched her. And she doubted that they had even considered that he had raped her.

She shivered. "Malfoy?" She seemed to be reaching the end of the tunnel. her senses started to go back to normal, and her breathing slowed. Ginny raised her eyes slightly to meet his. She had been wrong—he wasn't laughing. He looked mad. Ginny didn't know why he was mad, it wasn't like he cared what happened to her. But as soon as she saw that expression, it was wiped away. Draco Malfoy became the blank face that he had always been.

"Weasley?" Malfoy sat down next to her, and Ginny was glad. She didn't like looking up at people like that, it reminded her of lying in the Chamber.

"What are you doing here?"

"Prefect patrol."

"Oh." Ginny hated how small her voice sounded. She didn't want to sound that weak. She wanted to be strong. She cleared her throat, and held her head up higher. "Thank you."

Malfoy's eyes suddenly hardened, and his jaw clenched shut. The way his face hardened reminded Ginny of Tom. "Are you mad?" he demanded, his voice rising higher than normal. "You don't just wander through the dungeons alone, Weasley! I'm not the the most dangerous thing down here. You were practically asking for it!"

Ginny's mouth dropped open. "What, do you think I wanted to be—" she stopped in her tracks. She hated that word. "To be raped?" She finished, swallowing. A memory flashed before her eyes. She saw Tom Riddle, his dark eyes burning into hers as he put a hand to her cheek.

"Some people here really are terrible, you know," Malfoy sneered, bringing Ginny back to herself. "Just like people say. They won't hesitate to hurt a girl like you."

"A girl like me?" Ginny was getting angrier. "What do you mean by that?" She pushed the weakness away, forgetting what had just happened with Dean. This was one of her talents—forgetting. She could forget when Harry rejected her, or when Ron yelled at her. The only thing she had never been able to force out of her mind was Tom.

"An alone, unprotected Gryffindor."

Ginny felt her cheeks getting warm. He had to know that she didn't have her wand on her. She changed the subject, leaning her head back to the wall. "Did you see who it was?"

"No, but I bet that snake slithered back to the common room as soon as I hit him in the back of his head." Ginny's eyebrows shot up. He thought it was a Slytherin. "Why, Weasley? Did YOU see him?"

"Yeah, and it wasn't like you think it is."

"Well, then, who was it?"

Ginny felt her whole face turning red. "Someone." She didn't want him to know. If she told someone, it would just make it more real.

"Just tell me, Weasley. Was it Potter?"

Ginny shook her head furiously. "No, why the hell would it be him?"

Malfoy shrugged. Ginny turned to look at his face. He remained passive. She noted that there were dark circles under his eyes. "We can turn him in, Weasley."

She shook her head angrily. "I just want to forget about it."

"What, and just let a rapist roam around Hogwarts?"

"I want to forget about it, Malfoy!" Ginny pushed herself up until he was standing. Her hugged herself, shivering.

"Weasley—"

"Shut up, damn it!" Ginny started backing away from him. The shock seemed to be coming back. Her words sounded garbled to her, but maybe she just imagined it. Malfoy stayed on the floor. He was examining his nails as if they meant the world to him. He didn't even look up. "If I hear that you've said a word, I swear!" Ginny kept moving backwards, tears dripping from her eyes once again, but Malfoy kept his eyes on his cuticles.

"Whatever."

* * *

DISCLAIMER: Anything that you recognize from Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling. I don't own the characters, settings, or anything else.

* * *

A/N: Hey guys! So, this is the first story that I've posted here. I hope you like it.

I usually write DG stories, so this is in my comfort zone. I've written them before, but I've just kept them on Word.

I need ideas for a title because right now it's very unoriginal. So if anyone had any ideas I'd really appreciate it!

Like any author, I'd love feedback. Thanks!


	2. Chapter 1

Ginny picked at her breakfast. Colin sat to her left, and he was looking at her strangely. "Nervous?" he asked, shoveling an egg into his mouth. "I would be, too."

Ginny blinked. "What?" She was nervous (scared, actually) about seeing Dean. Ginny hadn't had as much luck as she had hoped with forgetting about what had happened the night before. There was no way that Colin would know about that, though.

"The match tomorrow?" Colin shoved his toast towards her. "Gryffindor against Slytherin?"

Ginny shook her head. That worried her in a way, though. She'd have to see Malfoy. "No," she lied easily, pushing the toast back. "Umbridge." Dolores Umbridge had came back to teach DADA for a second year. Dumbledore was back as Headmaster, and he was proven to be innocent. He was too kind, and had let Umbridge return. Technically she hadn't done anything wrong. Harry had told her that she had made some students write in their own blood, but she didn't know how that was possible, and Harry didn't expand on the subject. There was no proof.

"Oh." Colin nodded. He didn't have a problem with Umbridge. She liked him; she had worked with his mum before. Ginny, however, was one of her least favorite students. She didn't do anything particularly bad, but she was Ron's sister. She knew that he had a reputation of getting detentions from Umbridge. "Ginny, you do need to eat, though."

She put a piece of egg on her fork and ate it. "Happy?" Ginny asked, smiling widely.

Colin sighed. "Are you okay, Gin? You're acting odd."

Ginny's heart sank. She had tried to seem as normal as possible. She didn't want people asking questions, especially Ron. But if anyone could notice when she was acting weird, it would be Colin. They had been best friends since their first year. Even though he didn't know the details of the Chamber, he knew that something had happened that year. "Colin," she said firmly, "I'm fine." She glanced around the room, avoiding his eyes. Her gaze landed on Draco Malfoy, watching him for a few seconds. Ginny tried to keep herself from thinking what she had been subconsciously realizing over the past couple of years. Draco Malfoy was starting to become handsome.

Ginny jumped as Malfoy's icy eyes met hers. His gaze seemed to bore into her, and she quickly looked down at her untouched plate. "You know," she said to Colin, "I'm really not hungry at all. I think I'm going to go back to the dormitories." She hated how Malfoy was looking at her. It was evidence that he knew what had happened with Dean.

Colin nodded, pushing his plate away. "I'll come with you."

Ginny shook her head. She really just wanted some time to be alone. "No, I'll be fine. Honestly." She threw her feet over the bench and stood. "Besides," she gestured towards the doors, "Seamus is coming in. Didn't you want to talk to him about something?"

Colin nodded reluctantly. "Yeah, I wanted to ask him about that Potions essay. He did it last year."

Ginny nodded and refastened a button on her robes. "I'll see you in class, then."

Colin put a hand on her arm to stop her. "Oh, wait, have you seen Dean lately?"

Ginny froze. Her eyes were open wide, and he heart was pumping a hundred miles an hour. "Why?"

"Oh, Harry was asking about him."

Ginny relaxed and smiled falsely; Colin was looking at her worriedly again. "I'll tell him if I see him on the way to the Common Room."

Colin released Ginny's arm and she started out of the Great Hall. She had only gone past a few doorways when she heard footsteps in front of her. She kept her head down. She wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone.

"Ginny?" She stopped and shut her eyes. She counted to five before opening them again.

"Dean," she answered nervously. "Harry's looking for you." The two of them were alone, and Ginny didn't want to repeat the night before.

He ignored what she had just told him. "I just wanted to say sorry about last night. I know you like Harry and—"

Ginny's eyebrows skyrocketed. "I don't like Harry!" That was only half of the truth. She wasn't obsessed with him like her first few years at Hogwarts. She'd realized during her third year that she was probably scaring him. She still liked him, even though she was trying to force herself to see him as nothing more than a brother.

"Well," Dean continued nervously. Ginny noted that he looked completely different than he had when he was trying to kiss her. He looked like Dean. Last night, he had reminded her of Tom. "I—I honestly don't know what happened last night. I just wanted to tell you that I'm sorry."

Ginny felt a surge of anger well up inside of her chest. She put a hand on the wall to steady herself. "Sorry doesn't cut it, Dean!"

"I—" he looked crushed, but Ginny didn't let that stop her.

"I need to go. I don't know what's wrong with you. See you around." Ginny pulled her hand from the wall and pushed past Dean. She ran down the hall, ignoring his pleas for forgiveness. If he was going to force himself on her, she wasn't just going to forgive him that easily.

"Ginny, wait!"

Ginny felt tears in her eyes. He made her feel weak.

"Ginny!"

Ginny walked faster. She didn't look back.


	3. Chapter 2

The windows of the library let in the light. People huddled in groups, staring longingly outside. It was the middle of a Saturday, and many people were outdoors. But not Ginny—she was studying Quidditch technique at a table near the sports section. There were books strewn all around her, and Ginny's face was screwed up in frustrated concentration. They had barely won in the last match against Ravenclaw, and the whole team knew that Slytherin was going to be a hell of a lot harder to beat. The game was looming only two days away.

Gryffindor had a great team. Harry was captain (and seeker); Ron was keeper; the beaters were two younger boys named Jimmy and Richie; and Ginny, Dean, and Katie Bell were all chasers. Harry wasn't nearly as intense as Oliver Wood had been, but Katie seemed to carry the same competitiveness as Wood. She was certainly nice enough, but she wanted to win the Championship maybe even more than Harry did. She had deemed herself 'Co-Captain' to Harry, even though he had never acknowledged her.

Katie had talked to Harry, and somehow convinced him that the team needed to study the technique of their positions. It was bonkers, in Ginny's opinion. They needed to be spending this time practicing, not reading. But Katie had threatened that she was going to ask Madam Pince about what books the team had been reading just to make sure they'd been following 'Harry's' directions.

The rest of the team was going to go to the library together on Sunday. Ginny had gone alone on Saturday because Sunday was Hogsmeade, and she didn't want to spend it sitting inside.

When Ginny tried to read, her mind tended to drift. But not once did she think about Dean Thomas. That night was behind her—he hadn't actually hurt her, so she was okay. She would never forgive him, but Ginny wouldn't wallow in self-pity because of what could have been. She didn't think of how much she hated Dean Thomas.

She thought about Tom. She didn't have many memories of the Chamber, because Healers had given her something to forget. She knew that Tom had raped her, but she couldn't actually remember it—she just knew that he had. She couldn't remember anything about the Chamber except for his voice, and the cold feeling when he touched her cheek. That, she could never forget.

Ginny violently pushed aside The Mastery of Chasing: Volume One and grabbed the next edition. "Bloody hell," she muttered, putting her head in her hands. Ginny hated reading.

"Okay, Ginny?"

She didn't look up. "Like you care, Thomas," Ginny replied scathingly. It had been a week, and almost every day he had approached her. Each day it was different, but the gist of it was that he could barely remember what had happened and that someone must have slipped him something. Ginny agreed that he had acted strangely, but she didn't buy his story.

"Ginny, please." She ignored him. She kept her eyes on the open book in front of her. "I'm sorry, okay! I don't know what came over me. I think it might have been that one Slytherin in your year. Camden or whatever? He was looking at me funny and—"

Ginny finally raised her eyes. She noticed that she was trembling. "You don't get to say sorry. You know what you were going to do. I've told you every BLEEDING DAY that I don't want to hear it." Ginny was shouting, but she didn't care. Let Pince give her detention.

"Ginny—"

"NO!" She was on her feet. It wouldn't be half as bad if they hasn't been friends. "We are NOT on a first name basis anymore. I call you Thomas, and you call me Weasley. Understand?" Ginny scooped up her things and dumped them in her book bag. "And don't you talk to me again,

Thomas, or you'll bloody well be sorry."

"Hem-Hem." Ginny froze at the noise behind her. "Well, Miss. Weasley."

"Professor," Ginny muttered, turning to face her Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. She hated Umbridge. She hated her revolting pink sweater, her pink paid shoes, and her ugly pink plastic purse.

"Mr. Thomas, you can go. Miss. Weasley, on the other hand...you have a detention. There is no reason for you to disrupt the other students this way, is there?" Ginny shook her head sullenly. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Dean sneak around a bookshelf.

"No, Ma'am."

"Unfortunately, the only open slot for a long while is tonight at eight."

Ginny's eyes widened. "But, Ma'am, I have Quidditch practice!"

"I'm sure that this is more important, Miss. Weasley." Her smile was sickeningly sweet. "Besides, I've been told you practice almost every day. I doubt that missing one could hurt." Ginny scowled. "I'll see you at eight, then!" Umbridge finished happily. She started to trot away, but paused next to Ginny. "Oh, and Miss. Weasley? No one wants to hear you yell at Mr. Thomas. Everyone would appreciate if you would just keep it to yourself."

Ginny let out a breath that she hasn't realized she had held in. She hated the woman.

She walked briskly back to the Common Room, aware that it was already six o'clock. She still had a bit of Transfiguration work to do yet before heading to Umbridge's office.

As she clambered through the portrait hole, she regretted staying at the library for so long. Now she had hardly any time to finish her work, and all the good chairs in the Common Room were taken. Ginny spotted Harry, sitting alone at a table in the corner. She had noticed recently that her stomach didn't jerk like it used to when she saw him. She wondered if that meant she didn't fancy him anymore.

As Ginny made her way over to him, she straightened out her clothes. "Hi, Harry," she said evenly, smiling as he looked up. "Mind if I sit?"

"Oh, go ahead." He pushed his papers to one half of the table. "Ron and Hermione went to see Hagrid."

"Why didn't you go?"

"Too much to do. I'm behind in nearly everything." He ran his fingers through his hair.

"Oh. I am too, you and Katie have us on such a tight schedule."

"Oh...that." Harry shook his head sheepishly.

"Don't worry about it." Ginny pulled out her paper and ink. "I have less than an hour to do this. By the way, I won't make it to practice. I have detention with Umbridge at eight."

Harry looked up at her abruptly. "Umbridge?"

"Yeah, I was—loud—in the library."

"Ginny, you can't go. Remember what I told you about the blood?"

Ginny crossed her arms. "Actually, you never did tell me."

"She has quills, Ginny. When you write with them it takes the blood from your hand and it acts like your ink. I had a scar!"

"Can I see?"

"I—er—" Harry rubbed his hand. "It went away, this summer."

"Harry," Ginny said carefully, "You know that I trust you, but Dumbledore promised you that she would be on good behavior."

"I know. I just don't want you hurt."

Ginny's tried to keep the smile off her face. "Oh?" She sucked in her breath and with a sudden burst of courage, she blurted out, "Would you like to go to Hogsmeade with me tomorrow?"

Harry looked stunned for a moment, then confused. "Er—I'm kind of going with Hermione."

Ginny's heart sank. "Oh."

"Ginny, I—"

"Ginny? What are you doing here?" Ron glanced back and forth between her blush and Harry's bewildered expression. "Whatever, doesn't matter. Can you go?"

Ginny glanced up at him. "Why?"

"We need to talk alone." Hermione appeared next to Harry, and they exchanged a happy look. Ginny blinked. When had THAT happened?

"Oh, sure." Ginny started to clear her things off the table, glancing over at Harry and Hermione. They were smiling at each other. "See you later."

Hermione looked up and met her eyes. "Oh, Ginny! I know that we were going to go to Honeydukes tomorrow but I can't, I have a date."

"I know. You're busy all day?" Ginny asked stiffly. "Because you know we're there for eight hours."

Hermione shook her head. "I'd really like to be with Harry for our first date. Sorry, Ginny."

Ginny frowned, and she felt annoyed. "Oh. Ron?"

Her brother scowled. "I'm going with Lavender, not my sister."

Ginny nodded. She tried to keep her face nonchalant. "Oh, sure. I'll see if Colin can go."

"I heard that he's going with that new girl," Harry piped up.

Ginny shouldered her bag and frowned. Her and Colin almost always went together. They were best friends, she thought that she would know if he was going with someone.

"I'll see you later," she muttered, stalking away towards her dormitory. Harry rejected Ginny, Hermione easily put her aside for her date, and Ron once again had acted like she was just his annoying little sister.

* * *

"So, Miss. Weasley." Professor Unbridge leaned over her desk and knitted her fingers together. "You were quite loud in the library today. You made quite a bit of unwanted noise."

Ginny clenched her teeth. "I'm sorry, Ma'am."

"Well, Miss. Weasley, today people really didn't want you close to them." Her eyes sliced though Ginny. "You were very unwanted."

Ginny felt sick. "Yes, Ma'am," she ground out.

"Well, I'm going to give you a nice little reminder of what happens when you make yourself unwanted." Umbridge dug in her desk and pulled out a quill. "You are going to write lines."

Ginny's stomach sank. Harry was right. "What should I write?"

Umridge's smile was like poisoned honey. "I am unwanted."

Ginny's fingers gripped the quill so hard her knuckles turned white. "And ink?" She whispered.

"You won't need any, Miss. Weasley."

Ginny's hand trembled over the parchment laid in front of her. She knew what came next. Harry had been right.

I am unwanted.

Ginny's hand trembled. Nothing happened.

I am unwanted.

I am unwanted.

I am unwanted.

After three more lines, a stinging pain appeared on her left forearm. Ginny gritted her teeth and kept writing.

I am unwanted.

I am unwanted.

I am unwanted.

Fifteen minutes later, Ginny was sitting on the floor of Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. She was holding back tears as she gripped her arm. The blood had soaked through her robes, but Ginny was too scared to look at it. She didn't want to have to read what had been sliced into her skin.

She pulled her wand out of her pocked and angrily wiped at her eyes. She delicately pulled back her sleeve. The three words were roughly four inches long, centered between her elbow and her wrist. There was so much blood.

"Tergeo." Nothing happened. The blood was supposed to go away, but it only seemed to come faster. "Tergeo." Ginny's wand arm was quivering "Tergeo. Tergeo, dammit!"

The tears started to fall from her eyes. She was just glad that Myrtle wasn't there. Ginny had heard that she was a ruthless bully when it came to other people's problems.

Ginny heard the door open and shoved her sleeve back down. She furiously scrubbed her eyes, trying to make the tears stop. Whoever it was, she certainly wouldn't want to deal with Ginny's problems.

"Weasley?"

Ginny groaned, but it sounded strangled as it combined with a sob. "What, Malfoy?" She said quietly. "Are you here to mock me? Still laughing because I almost got myself raped? Or just here to gloat because I'm crying? Bugger off."

As Ginny's eyes cleared, she saw Malfoy press his lips together. "It's not funny that you almost got raped, Weasley," he retorted. "And no, I just heard someone trying to Tergeo something." He glanced at her suspiciously. "Weasley, where were you cut?"

Ginny crossed her arms to hide the bloodstain. "Nowhere."

He rolled his eyes and sat down across from her. "Yeah—that was pretty bloody believable. Let me see your arm."

"What are you going to do to it?"

Malfoy rolled up his sleeve and smirked. "Clean it up, like you seemed to be failing at."

Ginny reluctantly stuck her arm out. "I was not failing I was—" She hissed as he rolled up her sleeve. "Hey, watch it!" Ginny was thankful that the blood obfuscated the words that Umbridge had created.

"Tergeo." The blood disappeared. Ginny heard a sharp intake of breath and met Malfoy's sharp silver eyes. "What the bloody hell did you do to yourself, Weasley?"

Ginny pulled her arm back and yanked the sleeve down. "I didn't do it, you git!" She said.

"Then who did?"

"Dolores Umbridge."

Malfoy scrambled to his feet. "A professor did this?"

Ginny stood after him. She was surprised—his expression seemed to suggest that he cared. "Yes."

Malfoy's face was hard, and his hands seemed to clench into fists. "See you around, Weasley," he growled.

To Ginny's astonishment, he marched out of the bathroom with out another word.

* * *

DISCLAIMER: None of this belongs to me, it's all J. K. Rowling's.

* * *

A/N: I wrote this after I drank a Frappuccino, so it might be kind of weird. Hopefully this is good, I'd love some feedback in the form of a review. I'll give the first two reviewers a shout out!


	4. Chapter 3

Sunday was Hogsmeade, and everyone in the castle was in high spirits. Colin's date had canceled due to a cold, so he went with Ginny, as usual. Like always, they were strictly friends.

Ginny's arm had mysteriously healed during the night. No blood, scab, or scar was to be found, and Ginny could understand Harry's inability to offer her proof.

Ginny and Colin left the castle after breakfast. Almost everyone with a signed permission slip was rushing out of the Great Hall to the cool air. Ginny pulled Colin back to the wall, and muttered, "let's just wait for them all to pass. I'd rather not get knocked down and step—stepped on." Ginny's voice faltered as Dean passed by.

Ginny had never in her life gotten a glare as cold as the one Dean Thomas gave her. Even on 'That Night', he had never looked at her like that. Even Draco Malfoy had never equalled what Dean's eyes were saying to her. Ginny squeezed her own eyes shut, and took a deep breath. When she looked a few seconds later, Dean was already gone.

"Ginny?"

"Y—yeah?" Ginny stammered. She had almost forgotten about Colin, she had been so caught up looking at Dean.

"What the hell is wrong? Don't you dare say you're fine, because I know that you're not. You've been acting weird lately, Ginny! Staring off into space, not ending your sentences, and you've skipped your bloody Divination class twice now!"

Ginny bit her lip and glanced around. The hall was nearly empty, except for a few students lagging behind. Colin only swore when he was mad. "I—" for a second, Ginny was tempted to tell him the truth. But then she thought of the possibilities.

Colin was practically another brother. He would tell her family, and then Dean would have an army of red-heads beating him up. Not that Ginny had a problem with that, but the truth would somehow get out, and then everyone would know just how stupid she had been.

"About a week ago, I was going down to the kitchens at night and I fell down the stairs," Ginny lied quickly. "I hit my head, and I had a killer headache. I thought it might have been a concussion, so I went to the hospital wing and I got fixed up. I'm fine now, I just haven't been sleeping well because the medicine has been keeping me up. That's why I've been off lately."

Colin looked at her suspiciously. Ginny couldn't tell if he bought the story or not.

"Come on," Ginny said quickly. "We're wasting time! You know that Zonko's closes at noon. We'd better hurry!

* * *

"Oh, I almost forgot!" Colin said. Ginny sat down at their usual table in Three Broomsticks. "I have to pick up a package for Dennis. I'll be right back, yeah?"

Ginny rolled her eyes. "I'll be here."

"I shouldn't be long!" Colin hurried away, leaving Ginny to sip her butterbeer. The Three Broomsticks was busy as always, and she had been lucky to nab their table. Ginny waved at a group of Hufflepuff girls in her year.

"Mind if I sit?"

Ginny froze. "Thomas," she said stiffly. "I thought you understood that you weren't welcome." Ginny's heart was thudding in her chest.

Dean slid into the seat across from her, and Ginny remembered the fierce glare he had given her in the Great Hall. "Oh, I do." He grinned and Ginny bit her lip.

Dean had to be going mental. There was a dangerous glint in his eyes that she hadn't seen since 'That Night'. She hadn't bought his story that someone had spiked his punch, but there was definitely something wrong with him. His eyes, angry as they were, looked blank. His expression was slack.

"Please go away."

Dean reached out at grabbed her wrist. "No," he grinned.

Ginny's hands trembled. She glanced around the pub, but no one was watching them. "Dean,"

"I'm not Dean." Ginny drew in her breath sharply. Not Dean? What the hell did he mean, not Dean?

"Who are you?" Ginny's mind was racing. Was it Polyjuice? Was he possessed?

"That's for me to know, and you to never find out." Dean twisted her wrist and Ginny hissed in pain. "I have a silencing charm around us," he said. Ginny looked at the ground. She didn't want to see his face anymore. "So scream all you want, no one will hear you. In fact—"

"Let her go." Ginny's eyes snapped back up.

"Malfoy!" She didn't think that she had ever been happier to see the blonde git.

Dean didn't relax his grip. "I don't think so."

Draco pulled out his wand. A few people were looking at them interestedly. "Now, or I'll hex you."

With one last smirk at Ginny, Not-Dean let go of her arm and stood. He sauntered out of the Three Broomsticks.

"Thanks," Ginny said, rubbing her wrist. There were red marks were his fingers had been. "Malfoy, we need to talk."

Draco glanced around. No one was looking at them anymore. "Meet me in the library," he said slowly. "Tonight after dinner."

Ginny raised an eyebrow. She had doubted that he would actually meet with her. "Thank you."

"Ginny?" Colin was making his way between the tables. His eyes were darting suspiciously between Ginny and Draco.

"Merlin, Malfoy!" Ginny said loudly. "You're such a bloody ferret."

Malfoy rolled his eyes and brushed past Colin. "Whatever, weasel."

Ginny let out a sigh as Colin sat down. She was so confused. Dean wasn't Dean, and Malfoy sure as hell wasn't acting like the Malfoy that she had always known.

* * *

"I have a question," Malfoy said finally. They were in the secluded part of the library, between the History of Bewitching Muggle Artifacts and the Muggle Children's Toys sections. For the past two minutes, they had been engaged in a silent glare.

"Yeah, I figured."

"So." Malfoy cleared his throat. His shoulders were tense. "Thomas. He was the one that...?"

"Yep."

"And that's why...?"

"Yeah."

"Bloody hell, Weasley! How aren't you more freaked out by this?"

Ginny didn't meet his eyes. "Honestly? I have no clue." It was silent for a few moments, and she spoke up again. "I have a question for you."

Malfoy didn't say anything, he leaned back in his chair. Ginny noticed that he had dark circles under his eyes, like he hadn't slept for years. "Are you going to tell?" Ginny's hands trembled, so she moved them to her knees. What she was going to ask about was stirring up bad memories.

"It depends."

"There's something else I needed to ask you about," Ginny rushed on. "Before you stopped him today, we were talking. He said something strange. He said that he wasn't Dean. And I can't help but wonder...that night, he was different. I saw it in his eyes. The next day, he seemed normal. But I don't...he wasn't possessed."

Malfoy examined her thoughtfully. "How would you know if he was possessed, Weasley?"

Ginny gulped, and memories flashed before her eyes. Roosters, blood, diaries, and snakes danced in her mind. "Believe me Malfoy," she said finally, "I would know."

They sat. Ginny took this time to fully look at him. His eyes were hollow, and his jaw set. He seemed to sag into his chair. "Someone's coming," he said suddenly, pushing back his chair. "I need to go."

Ginny quickly stood, and led him behind another shelf. "Wait."

"I know what you're going to ask me." He swept his hair out of his eyes and glanced behind Ginny.

"You do?"

"You're wondering why I'm even talking to you. Why I'm not hexing you, or spreading the story around the school, or insulting you. And I can't answer that."

"Why the hell not!" Ginny's temper flared.

"Because," he said evenly. Their eyes met, and Ginny saw a flash of helplessness. "Because I don't fucking know."

* * *

Disclaimer- nothing is mine

a/n: so i hope this is good, please comment with feedback!

thanks! -lexi


End file.
